Which is the News?

Tuesday

Aug 6, 2013 at 12:11 PM

Maybe its because I did my doctoral research on Civil War media, but I’m always more interested in who owns the newspapers rather than what is in them. And for me, it is less newsworthy that Jeff Bezos is buying the Washington Post than it is that John Henry is buying the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram, or whatever that rag is called today. (sad to think that the Worcester Telegram, the Worcester Evening Gazette and the Worcester Sunday Telegram were once creme de la creme papers.)

For all the talk about Amazon.com, its still just a reseller of the products of others. Amazon.com is about finding new ways to sell pre existing content. It may not be bricks and mortar, but even a 9th century bedouin rug dealer would understand what Bezos has been doing–making money by finding a faster and more efficient way to bring someone else’s product to market. Thus far, it hasn’t proven very profitable to sell newspapers on-line, and the Washington Post hardly possesses a library of content that could make Amazon.com more money. Which means that Bezos is unlikely to come up with some way to make the Post relevant to the world in a way that no one else has thought of in the past fifteen years. More likely, Bezos sees the paper as nineteenth century businessmen did–as a means of influencing the Washington regulators who could make life very tough for Amazon.com in the years to come.

But I’m more interested in why John Henry, of all people, wants the Globe. Well, the Globe has always been nothing more than a glorified sports page with comics and biased editorials, and an opinion page which is a tool of the local political machine. (with weather, this is the traditional role). It is highly unlikely that any paper, including the Globe, will ever be a premier money maker and profit center. Equally, the Red Sox get pretty good press in the Globe, so he’s not buying the enemy. And, again, there isn’t that much value in content. So why does he want it, and why is he willing to take the millstone of the Worcester media to get the Globe? A challenge? That’s like the farmer who decides to farm until his loses all his lottery winnings and is bankrupt again. Emulating good ole Michael in New York perhaps, in which John Henry is looking to be mayor of Boston after climbing to the pinnacle of media power? Or is it just a toy?

The broader question is whether newspapers have any independent value in our society, any role to play, any effective and central component in our society. Or whether owning newspapers is just a losing proposition, such that rich men in their dotage can buy them as toys, just to see what they can do? I do believe that newspapers have a fundamental and constitutional obligation to oppress the government, pump the officials with scary questions and fight for the release of documents. I can’t see Henry or Bezos being that kind of anti-establishment crusader, and its been years since we have seen such crusaders. We now rely on heros like Manning and Snowden to find channels to disclose what we the people need to know. And if the papers aren’t fulfilling that crusader role, and they are behind the news cycle, and they don’t make money, why do Bezos and Henry want them?

Rob Meltzer

Maybe its because I did my doctoral research on Civil War media, but I’m always more interested in who owns the newspapers rather than what is in them. And for me, it is less newsworthy that Jeff Bezos is buying the Washington Post than it is that John Henry is buying the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram, or whatever that rag is called today. (sad to think that the Worcester Telegram, the Worcester Evening Gazette and the Worcester Sunday Telegram were once creme de la creme papers.)

For all the talk about Amazon.com, its still just a reseller of the products of others. Amazon.com is about finding new ways to sell pre existing content. It may not be bricks and mortar, but even a 9th century bedouin rug dealer would understand what Bezos has been doing–making money by finding a faster and more efficient way to bring someone else’s product to market. Thus far, it hasn’t proven very profitable to sell newspapers on-line, and the Washington Post hardly possesses a library of content that could make Amazon.com more money. Which means that Bezos is unlikely to come up with some way to make the Post relevant to the world in a way that no one else has thought of in the past fifteen years. More likely, Bezos sees the paper as nineteenth century businessmen did–as a means of influencing the Washington regulators who could make life very tough for Amazon.com in the years to come.

But I’m more interested in why John Henry, of all people, wants the Globe. Well, the Globe has always been nothing more than a glorified sports page with comics and biased editorials, and an opinion page which is a tool of the local political machine. (with weather, this is the traditional role). It is highly unlikely that any paper, including the Globe, will ever be a premier money maker and profit center. Equally, the Red Sox get pretty good press in the Globe, so he’s not buying the enemy. And, again, there isn’t that much value in content. So why does he want it, and why is he willing to take the millstone of the Worcester media to get the Globe? A challenge? That’s like the farmer who decides to farm until his loses all his lottery winnings and is bankrupt again. Emulating good ole Michael in New York perhaps, in which John Henry is looking to be mayor of Boston after climbing to the pinnacle of media power? Or is it just a toy?

The broader question is whether newspapers have any independent value in our society, any role to play, any effective and central component in our society. Or whether owning newspapers is just a losing proposition, such that rich men in their dotage can buy them as toys, just to see what they can do? I do believe that newspapers have a fundamental and constitutional obligation to oppress the government, pump the officials with scary questions and fight for the release of documents. I can’t see Henry or Bezos being that kind of anti-establishment crusader, and its been years since we have seen such crusaders. We now rely on heros like Manning and Snowden to find channels to disclose what we the people need to know. And if the papers aren’t fulfilling that crusader role, and they are behind the news cycle, and they don’t make money, why do Bezos and Henry want them?

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